The WORST episodes of Mama's Family

Every episode of Mama's Family ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Mama's Family!

Mama's Family mined humor from a squabbling family in the Midwestern blue collar suburb of Raytown. The noisy clan was headed by "Mama" Thelma, a buxom, gray-haired widow with sharp opinions and a sharper tongue who shared her small house with her high-strung sister Fran, a journalist for a local paper. Mama's lazy, dimwitted son, Vint, a locksmith by trade, moved in at the start of the series with his troublesome teenage children, Buzz and Sonja, after his wife run off to become a Las Vegas show-girl. Much to Mama's disgust, Vint soon took up with the flirtatious neighbor Naomi. The two where married in early 1983, and Naomi moved in too. Further uproar was caused by the periodic visits from Mama's two married daughter's, the foul mouthed Eunice and the snobbish Ellen. Ed was Eunice's Dolt of a husband. In the Fall of 86 Mama's Family returned to TV in first-run syndication. Fran had recently passed (Rue McClanahan was now starring in The Golden Girls) and Ed and Eunice had moved to Florida, leaving behind their son Bubba as he finishes his time in Juvenile Hall and forcing him to move in. Meanwhile, neighbor Iola Boylen makes the house's acquaintance and becomes a regular visitor with her unique charm.

Last Updated: 5/31/2026Network: NBCStatus: Ended
Flaming Forties
star
6.55
20 votes

#1 - Flaming Forties

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/29/1983

Mama brings the U.S.O show to the Raytown Gymnasium when the band doesn't show up for the school dance.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Mama Gets the Bird
star
6.82
17 votes

#2 - Mama Gets the Bird

Season 4 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/30/1988

After Uncle Oscar passes away, Mama is willed his gabby pet parrot. The bird then starts reciting verses in rhyme, which the family thinks are clues that will lead them to Oscar's rumored hidden treasure.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Jim Evering
For Better or for Worse
star
6.91
101 votes

#3 - For Better or for Worse

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/29/1983

Vint and Naomi get together, much to Mama's chagrin.

Workman's Holiday
star
6.95
20 votes

#4 - Workman's Holiday

Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/5/1987

When Mama embarrasses Vinton at work with the "Binky Bunny" lunchbox she made for him when he was a kid, she must find a way to cure him of his trauma before he loses his job.

Directors: Dave Powers
Mama Goes Hawaiian (1)
star
7.00
46 votes

#5 - Mama Goes Hawaiian (1)

Season 4 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/20/1988

After winning a trip to Hawaii on Jeopardy!, Mama and her family go on the trip, along with Iola. Iola and Bubba each find romance, Mama is pestered by a man she believes is a beach bum, and Naomi is confined to the hotel room with a terrible sunburn.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Jim Evering
Mama's Boyfriend
star
7.07
46 votes

#6 - Mama's Boyfriend

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/19/1983

Mama rekindles her romance with an old beau she hasn't seen in forty years.

Writer: Gary Jacobs
Mama Goes Hawaiian (2)
star
7.07
14 votes

#7 - Mama Goes Hawaiian (2)

Season 4 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/27/1988

Vinton plays a round of golf with three men who mistakenly believe that he is a stock market insider, and his "advice" actually causes them to triple their money. To thank him, they invite him and his family to a farewell party given by their corporate boss - the "beach bum" Mama has been trying to avoid.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
A Room with No View
star
7.08
24 votes

#8 - A Room with No View

Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/19/1987

Vint and Naomi are tired of living in the basement, so they agree to switch rooms with Bubba. Everyone is happy with the new arrangement, except Mama.

Directors: Dave Powers
Mama's Silver
star
7.11
45 votes

#9 - Mama's Silver

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 5/7/1983

Vint pawns Mama's silver to bail out his friend Claude Cainmaker (whom Mama can't stand).

My Phony Valentine
star
7.13
16 votes

#10 - My Phony Valentine

Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/18/1989

It's Valentine's Day, and Mama falsely says she has a date so that Iola will feel free to go out. To support her lie, Mama orders an escort from "Rent-a-Gent."

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
Fran's Dress
star
7.13
48 votes

#11 - Fran's Dress

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/26/1983

Mama ruins Fran's brand new dress on the day of her special occasion.

Bed and Breakdown
star
7.14
14 votes

#12 - Bed and Breakdown

Season 4 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/12/1988

When Raytown is crowded due to the Tri-State Fair, the Harpers decide to rent out a room in their house in order to make some money. However, they end up overbooking and needing to rent out three rooms, leading to chaos between all the houseguests.

Directors: Dave Powers
Cellmates
star
7.16
57 votes

#13 - Cellmates

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/26/1983

Eunice and Mama wind up in jail after they cause a disturbance at the Bigger Jigger.

Alien Marriage
star
7.17
46 votes

#14 - Alien Marriage

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/2/1983

Vint gets roped into a crazy scheme to marry an illegal alien for money.

Directors: Roger Beatty
My Mama, Myself
star
7.19
16 votes

#15 - My Mama, Myself

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/17/1988

When the family starts thinking about selling a brooch that belonged to Grandma Crowley, her ghost (played by Vicki Lawrence) starts haunting Mama.

Directors: Dave Powers
The Sins of the Mother
star
7.19
57 votes

#16 - The Sins of the Mother

Season 4 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/9/1988

After Bubba comes home late and drunk, Mama is enraged and gives him an excessive punishment. He does not know why she is being so irrational, until Iola tells him (via flashback) about a similar incident involving Eunice when she was Bubba's age.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Jim Evering
Pomp and Circumstance
star
7.21
38 votes

#17 - Pomp and Circumstance

Season 4 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/26/1988

Bubba and Mama are graduating from high school, but devastating news for Bubba forces Valedictorian Mama to ensure that she and Bubba and make it to the graduation ceremony in time.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins
Mama Gets a Job
star
7.21
52 votes

#18 - Mama Gets a Job

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/5/1983

Mama gets a taste of the real world when she gets a job as a receptionist.

Positive Thinking
star
7.21
47 votes

#19 - Positive Thinking

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/30/1983

Eunice wins a role in a production at the Pepperpot Theatre, fulfilling and reigniting a lifelong desire to become an actress.

Naomi's Identity Crisis
star
7.24
17 votes

#20 - Naomi's Identity Crisis

Season 4 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/19/1988

Naomi loses her memory after Mama accidentally hits her head with the door. When Naomi asks Mama what kind of person she used to be, Mama convinces her that she was the perfect daughter-in-law who loved to do housework.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Dorothy Van
Black Belt Mama
star
7.24
55 votes

#21 - Black Belt Mama

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/14/1984

Mama decides to take a self defense course after being mugged.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Wedding (Part 1)
star
7.24
59 votes

#22 - The Wedding (Part 1)

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/5/1983

The boys party and the girls decorate as Vint and Naomi's marriage looms.

Watch Now:Apple TV
There Is Nothing Like the Dames
star
7.26
19 votes

#23 - There Is Nothing Like the Dames

Season 6 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/17/1990

Vinton and Naomi buy an RV and plan to move to a trailer park; however, they are unable to start the vehicle once it is in the driveway. Meanwhile, Mama is planning to host a fancy backyard luncheon for an snooty society group called the Dames.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Dorothy Van
Mama on Jeopardy!
star
7.28
18 votes

#24 - Mama on Jeopardy!

Season 4 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/13/1988

Mama finds herself competing on Jeopardy!.

Directors: Dave Powers
After the Fall
star
7.30
20 votes

#25 - After the Fall

Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/28/1987

Mama brings Aunt Effie home to nurse her back to health after she falls off the roof while reshingling her house.

Directors: Dave Powers
Writer: Rick Hawkins